Entertainer Max Boyce thought one of his friends was having a joke when he
received a letter telling him he had become an MBE.

Max said he was told of his honour by a letter addressed to "Max Boyce, near the rugby club, Glynneath".

"At first I thought it was one of the boys pulling my leg.

"It was only later that it sank in, but even now I cannot really believe it," he said.

The singing comedian, who recorded his first album Live at Treorchy in 1973,
said the honour capped a fantastic year for him.

'I am thrilled'

He said it began with a record BBC Wales audience for his programme An
Audience with Max Boyce.

Other highlights included singing before the rugby game in which Wales beat
England at Wembley in the Five Nations Championship, performing on the opening
day of the Welsh Assembly and a successful concert tour, he said.

He added: "I am thrilled. It's something that I never expected.

"Only my wife and my family knew about it. I wanted to tell my friends, but I
had to keep quiet."